WINDHOEK- Horasis Chairperson Dr Frank Richter during a courtesy call on President Hage Geingob on the margins of the World Investment Forum (WIF) extended an invitation to Geingob to be the guest of honour at the 2019 Horasis Global Meeting in Cascais, Portugal next April.
This was revealed yesterday by presidential press secretary Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari, who said the conference will provide an opportunity for Namibia to showcase its investment opportunities.
The annual Horasis Global Meeting is one of the world’s foremost gatherings of business leaders who interact with key government officials and eminent thought leaders. The Horasis community will gather to debate this year’s theme, “Catalysing the Benefits of Globalization.”
Hengari said Geingob had successful meetings with senior leaders of the United Nations system and the investment community while in Geneva on the margins of the World Investment Forum.
He said the director general of the International Labor Organization,
Guy Ryder, also paid a courtesy call on Geingob to discuss the work programme of the ILO in Namibia, including better use of statistical data to capture emerging employment patterns.
“The two leaders agreed that the chairman of SADC would host a regional conference of the ILO in the first half of 2019 to mark the centenary of the founding of the ILO,” he said.
He added that Geingob was informed that the future of work looked different compared to the past, and developing countries risked being left behind.
“The priority would be to reskill and prepare for the jobs of the future,” Hengari quoted Ryder as having said.
Furthermore, Hengari said Geingob also met with the director general of the United Nations Office in Geneva, Michael Møller, to discuss the Sustainable Development Goals and the threat that climate change poses for countries like Namibia.
He said during the meeting Geingob raised the status of highly unequal countries like Namibia as upper middle-income countries, thereby undermining their potential to access grants and preferential loans.
Additionally, the presidential spokesperson said Geingob also met with the executive chairman of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority from the UAE, Marwan al Sarkal.
“Al Sarkal shared with Geingob areas in which the Emirate could invest in Namibia, including ports logistics and tourism. Moreover, Sarkal informed that the Emirate would share best practices with Namibia in the areas of education, artificial intelligence and youth development,” he said.